


Tuxes and Pretend-Marriages

by Nathamuel



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Cruise Ships, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Sibling Incest, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-16 20:32:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7283674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nathamuel/pseuds/Nathamuel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He leaned forward to kiss his husband. Well… fake-husband. What they didn’t do for a pot of gold… or twenty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Anon prompt was something along the lines of pretending to be married while in tuxes, among other things. ;) It's... not really a drabble anymore xD

"So, how long have you been married?" the barkeeper asked. His eyes had been on Nathan all night. Nathan touched the ring on his finger and smiled, keeping it soft and happy which wasn’t as hard as he would have imagined.

“A week. This is actually our honeymoon.” He beamed at the man and felt arms come up around him from behind. The expression on the barkeeper’s face suggested that Sam was glaring at him, since he flinched a little and then bid Nathan a nice evening and went off to another guest. 

It was a whole new experience.

“You could think that on a cruise for couples, people would stop hitting on the guests.” Sam complained but judging by the grin on his face when Nathan looked over his shoulder, he didn’t mean it.

“Maybe some people on this cruise are less than happy with their significant other.” Nathan replied. As one they both turned their gaze on a couple close-by. Both in their 60th, both looking like they wished that _this_ was finally the cruise that one of them went overboard. It made one wonder what they did on this cruise at all. Although the service and establishments were high class and the ship big enough that they probably didn’t have to see each other at all if they didn’t want to. Ah, the privilege of a hell of a lot of money. 

They looked at each other again, Sam still leaning up against Nathan’s side, a novelty to be so close in plain sight of strangers. Nathan turned in Sam’s arms.

“But you’re not tired of me like that, right, Nathan?” Sam asked, face sly and he winked when he pulled one of Nathan’s hands up for a kiss. With his free hand, Nathan loosened his tie before letting his palm come to rest against Sam’s waist. A smile threatening to creep onto his face and he didn’t fight it.

“Not yet.” He said and leaned forward to kiss his husband. Well… fake-husband. What they didn’t do for a pot of gold… or twenty. Sam’s smile turned more genuine, happier, the mockery slipping away. His arms bracketed Nathan in against the bar. 

“So, did you have an eye on our mark?” he leaned forward to whisper into Nathan’s ear. Nathan searched out the couple, right across the room, for whom they had to pretend to be freshly wedded. This was their only chance to get their hands on a clue that might lead them to another treasure. It was also a nice opportunity for a vacation. It had no rush. On this cruise they had time.

“They stayed here all day. Tomorrow they’ll probably be somewhere else on the ship, but they won’t be in their quarters.” Nathan murmured back, used the pretense to kiss first Sam’s cheek and then his lips.

“I think so, too. We still have some time to steal the statuette.”

“Yeah.” Nathan breathed out into the space between them, before leaning in again to put Sam’s mouth to better use than talking.

“Say it.” Sam said when they broke apart again.

Nathan rolled his eyes, took a step back. “Alright. Coming on this cruise was a good idea.” Sam fist-pumped the air and grinned. It took some effort but Nathan neither grinned nor face-palmed, though he couldn’t quite help the grin on his face. 

“I told you.” Sam said, still beaming. His wrapped his arms around Nathan and planted a kiss on his lips. 

“But if we’re caught. We won’t have many places to go.” Nathan said, just to damp his brother’s mood a little. It even had been his initial worry about this plan. There wasn’t a lot of space to escape to in the middle of the ocean.

“It won’t come to that.” Sam said, rolling his eyes and pulled Nathan back in by the waist. They had never been this publicly affectionate with each other, but as a freshly married couple they had every right and excuse to do just that. And they had some catching up to do anyway. Nathan intertwined their hands between them, Sam’s other hand on the small of his back. The rings that Sam had brought caught against each other.

“So, where did you get rings in our size so quickly?” he finally asked and was surprised when Sam ducked his head, laughed awkwardly. Immediately, his interest was piqued. So far he hadn’t asked, since the plan had been rather hastily thrown together, but now they had all the time of a couple of weeks.

“Well,” he said, drawn-out. Nathan lifted a brow, pulled Sam to the side and into a niche where they had a little more privacy. That ‘well’ could only mean that Sam had something to tell that he was embarrassed about, or that it had been a secret, until now, something he hadn’t disclosed. Over the past year, after he had returned from the dead, there had been a few ‘well’s like that. And Nathan hadn’t liked all of them. Some of them had made him sad. Others mad.

“Who did you steal them from?” he deadpanned when the silence had stretched out too long to be comfortable, Sam fidgeting on the spot but not letting go of Nathan’s hands. He had no problem with Sam stealing things, though he was hoping to bring his brother into a more legal life, now that they had the legal means with the salvage company… of course there were occasionally little jobs like this. Nathan, too, was trying to live a little less unlawful. It didn’t prove to be easy.  
That got a reaction out of Sam. A surprising one at that. 

Indignation. 

“I didn’t steal them at all.” He hissed, brows furrowed. Nathan let his gaze drop to them. Those were nice, plain gold rings and they had fitted like a charm. They must have been expensive.  
Sam squirmed in front of him, backed against the wall. Literally and Figuratively.

“Sam, what is it?” Nathan asked. He let his thumb circle over Sam’s palm, his other rested on Sam’s waist. Just a moment later, Sam sighed like a man defeated. And Nathan hadn’t even brought out the puppy eyes, yet.

“I bought them, over 15 years ago. Before I went to prison.” Sam haltingly said. Nathan held his hand. Sometimes it made it easier for Sam to talk. This time he wasn’t meeting his eyes. 

“Luckily they didn’t steal them. The guards I mean. They actually gave them back to me when I was bought out by Rafe. Imagine my surprise.” They chuckled and Sam turned serious again. One corner of his mouth was pulled up, but it wasn’t quite a smile. His thumb rubbed nervously over the back of Nathan’s hand, over the ring on his finger. Then he took a deep breath and continued.

“I- got them for us.” He mumbled, glanced over Nathan’s shoulder. No one paid them any attention. “I meant to ask you to marry me when we got out of Panama. Well that didn’t happen obviously.” He breathed out.  
Nathan felt as if his heart had stopped.

“You- wanted to ask me?” he asked. Back then they hadn’t had a lot of money and Sam still had, somehow, saved up enough money to buy two rings like that.

“Yeah,” Sam said, tilting his head from side to side as he talked, “and I had hoped that you wouldn’t mind that your engagement ring would be the same as your marriage ring.” He chuckled again but his eyes were serious, watching Nathan’s reaction.  
Nathan swallowed heavily. He looked away. There had been some times since Sam’s supposed death where he had thought about what he had lost, about what options they would have had. Marriage had only briefly crossed his mind but now…  
He liked the thought, the images it evoked in front of his mind’s eye.

“But, we’re brothers. No one would wed us.” He pointed out. His heart was skipping beats, his hands were sweaty and somehow there was a smile on his face because this was Sam in front of him and Sam usually had a plan up his sleeve. Between them they always had a plan and one was shaping in Nathan’s mind as well as they spoke.

Sam tilted his head to the other side. The smile on his face was sly.

“Well, back then, I simply thought we could marry symbolically. Swap rings for our own sake.” He looked at their hands again. “But now I made some… adjustments when I made new papers for myself, after prison.” Sam let go of one of Nathan’s hands to pull his ID out of his jacket. He held it up for Nathan to see.

The name on the ID read _Sam Morgan_. 

“I thought that was a fake ID to get us on the ship.” Nathan said after a second and Sam laughed. 

“No, it’s my real ID and Sam Morgan is a different Sam Morgan than the one from our childhood.” He gave his ID a little shake. “This one doesn’t have any siblings. So,” he dragged the word out, fidgeting again. “we’re no longer legally brothers.”  
Nathan’s mouth stood open. “You really planned this through.” He finally managed to say. There were butterflies going wild in his belly. 

“I did.” Sam grinned like the cat that got the cream. “All I need is a yes.” Sam said. He scratched his head. “I didn’t hear a yes.” 

Nathan laughed. “Because you didn’t ask me.” He pointed out before he kissed Sam deeply to convey his joy at the prospect. 

“Ask me for real when this job is through. Might be weird if you asked me one week after our marriage.” Nathan joked. 

Sam beamed back at him. “True enough. Though I might have to ask sooner. Already wasted 16 years.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amy and Christie wanted a sequel so here you two have a sequel. :) Hope you like it! <3

It was a lovely late night when they were curled up on the couch. No mud, no gravel in unmentionable places, no rain or bullets whizzing past their heads. Nathan’s hand was in his and Sam was playing with the ring on his finger when the thought came to him. On TV there was an action movie running, which Sam had been avidly following when that particular thought had come to him. Lately, it had come to him more and more often.

“You know.” He said after a while, making himself be heard over the screaming on screen and Nathan grunted in answer. It wasn’t a real ‘I’m listening to you’-grunt but more of an ‘I’m distracted but you said something so I will acknowledge that you said something’-grunt. It was just like the way Sam always caught himself saying ‘Fine’ when it was nothing but. They each knew those little tells. In this instance, Sam found it best to repeat himself. “You know, you should really give me this ring back.” 

A moment of silence, only broken by the noises of the movie, stretched out before Nathan’s face whirled towards him. “What? Why?” His wide-eyes gaze fell to their joined hands as well. Both their ring fingers were adorned with the same ring, signaling their marital status. Expect they weren’t married at all, for real.

“Well,” Sam began, ignoring the wild beating of his heart and putting the most shit-eating grin he could manage on his face. “How do you expect me to ask you for real?” 

Nathan’s mouth worked for a moment but no sound came out. Sam used the time to turn down the volume of the TV. The expression on Nathan’s face was bewildered before he laughed. “You could have always just pick-pocketed me and surprised me.” He finally said.

Sam put a hand on his heart. “You know what, that hurts my feelings. I would never pick-pocket you.” He pouted. The smile never left Nathan’s face when pressed a quick kiss to Sam’s mouth. Then one of his brows lifted.

“Really? I can think of a few occasions.” Nathan said and held up a couple of fingers to show the number of times he was talking about. 

Sam laughed .“Touché.” Nervously he touched the ring on Nathan’s finger again. “So what do you think?” After their little heist on the cruise, they had never really taken them off again, but it didn’t make the paperwork Sam had forged for them any more real. They would never hold up under the scrutiny of the authorities, except for his own ID. It had been quite expensive.

“About what?” Nathan looked at the TV screen again and Sam came _this close_ to rolling his eyes at his little brother. _This close._

Sam lightly slapped Nathan’s leg to get his attention again. “Marriage.” He clarified at Nathan’s confused expression.

“What? Was that supposed to be your proposal?” Nathan’s hand flexed in his. “That was cheap, Sam. I have to say no on principle.” There was a bright grin on Nathan’s face that Sam couldn’t help but kiss. 

“You’re so bossy.” He whispered against Nathan’s mouth before ducking away from the lazy swipe at his head. Nathan snorted.

“It’s called having style.” He replied and nodded his head at Sam’s raised brow.

Sam pretended to think about it. “I doubt that’s what it’s called.” He finally said. 

“Get on with it.” Nathan was smiling, blue eyes twinkling. 

“As you wish.” Gently, Sam pulled the ring from Nathan’s finger and underneath his watchful and amused gaze sunk to his knees in front of the couch. Sam wiped his sweaty hands on his pants.

He cleared his throat. “You’ll have to forgive me for not having one of those fancy boxes, but I could go upstairs and get one if you want.” Nathan’s gaze was wide-eyed and he sat up a little more straight with Sam on his knees in front of him.

The tip of his tongue darted out to wet his lips before he replied: “No, this is just fine.”

Sam held the ring out to Nathan, letting the metal catch some of the light of the TV and the lamp they had turned on to fend off the dark. “Nathan Drake, would you like to become my husband?” There was still a thrill of uncertainty running through his body when he watched Nathan’s face. It was ridiculous. They had been as good as married on that cruise already and neither of them had bothered to take their _freaking_ rings off. Still, Sam’s voice shook only a little. 

For one awful long moment Nathan was silent, almost frozen in his position before a grin spread over his face. Then he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Sam’s mouth. Both of his hands came up to frame Sam’s face. “Yes, I would like to be your husband, if you will be mine.” He whispered into the space between them. Sam’s heart skipped just a beat, before it sped up and he pulled Nathan down into his lap in his excitement, falling on his ass in the process.

“That is exactly what I wanted to hear.” Sam beamed at Nathan when they broke apart for air. Nathan rolled his eyes.

“Just give me back my ring.” He said and grabbed for it only to have Sam hold it out of his reach. “Really, Sam?” Nathan asked and rolled his eyes _again_ before putting Sam into a headlock that made him squeak and snatched the ring back. 

Sam chuckled and kissed the part of Nathan’s chest that he could reach before Nathan let go of him again. Quickly he took the ring from Nathan’s ring with another apologetic kiss this time.

“I’m happy, you know, that you said yes, Nathan.” Sam said quietly before he gently pushed the ring back on Nathan’s finger.

Nathan leaned his forehead against his. “Me too.”


End file.
